Is this tiny chameleon the world’s smallest reptile?
- Bookesia nana, a newly discovered species, has a body only 13.5mm long and can fit on a human fingertip
- The male chameleon has genitals almost one-fifth of its body size, possibly to allow it to mate with the larger female
It fits on a human fingertip, but this chameleon could make a big splash.
Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon is a contender for the title of world’s smallest reptile.
Frank Glaw, who was part of the international team of researchers that classified the new species and named it Brookesia nana said the body of the male specimen appeared to be just 13.5mm-long (a little more than a half-inch.)
That is at least 1.5mm smaller than the previous record holder, another member of the Brookesia family.
Glaw, a reptile expert at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, said the tiny male and a slightly larger female were spotted on a Madagascar mountainside by a local guide during a 2012 expedition.
“You really have to get down on your knees to find them,” Glaw said in a telephone interview on Friday. “They are obviously camouflaged and they move very slowly.”